More details on ChromeOS's planned phase out emerge

Google is preparing a shakeup of its operating system landscape and ChromeOS is getting the short end of the stick. According to recently surfaced court documents from the US vs. Google antitrust case obtained by The Verge, Google is planning to phase out ChromeOS completely by 2034.

Why that year specifically? Well, Google’s last major ChromeOS hardware platform release was in 2023 and that means it will have to honor its ten-year support obligation through 2033-2034.

The new development comes from a transcript from the case where Google lawyers confirmed that their client was looking to unify Android and Chrome into a single desktop operating system known internally as Aluminium OS. ChromeOS and Android's merger was confirmed by the President of the Android Ecosystem last year.

Aluminium OS leak

The new report suggests that “commercial trusted testers” will get early access to Aluminium OS in late 2026, while its wider rollout should take place in 2028. A leaked version of Aluminium OS appeared last week, showcasing some of its design elements which, as expected, look like a mix between Android and ChromeOS.

We also get an infographic describing the tech stack similarities and differences between ChromeOS and Aluminium. The new OS is described as “ChromeOS built on the Android stack” and will apparently feature special privileges for first-party Google apps like the Chrome browser.

Source (paywall)